Many Older Doctors Plan to Give up Their Practice

The results of a new survey indicate that 48 percent of physicians between 50 and 65 years of age are planning to reduce or end their clinical practice in the next l to 3 years. The findings also suggest that many older physicians believe that their younger counterparts do not have the work ethic they do.

The survey, which was conducted by Merritt Hawkins＆Associates, a Texas-based physician search and consulting firm, suggests that many older physicians are simply unhappy with the changes that have taken place in medicine over the years.

"When Baby Boom doctors entered medicine, they had control over how they practiced and the fee they charged. But the rules changed on them in mid-stream and now many are looking for a ticket out," Mark Smith, executive vice president of Merritt Hawkins＆Associates, said in a statement.   "Our study is the only one I am aware of that examines the career plans of physicians in the 50-to-65 age group." This age group represents more than one-third of all physicians in the U. S. If they stop working in the coming years, it will have a "significant impact" on the overall supply of physicians, Smith told Reuters Health.

The results of the survey, which included 1,170 respondents（调查对象）, show that 24 percent of older physicians are planning to leave clinical practice all together in the next 1 to 3 years. Specifically, 14 percent said they were planning on retiring, 7 percent said they were looking for a medical job in a non-patient care setting, and 3 percent said they were seeking a job in a non-medical field.

For those physicians not leaving clinical practice, many said they would make changes to reduce the number of patients they treat. For instance, 12 percent said they would begin working part-time, 8 percent said they planned to stop taking new patients or markedly reduce their patient load, and 4 percent expressed a desire to work on a temporary basis.

When asked about the work ethic of physicians entering practice today, 68 percent of the respondents said that these younger doctors are not as dedicated or as hard working as physicians who entered practice 20 t0 30 years ago. Fifty-seven percent of older physicians said they would not recommend medicine as a career to their own children. Similarly, 44 percent said they would not select medicine as a career if they were starting out today.   

"The most ominous（不祥的）finding is that about one half of physicians surveyed plant to either abandon patient care in the next 1 to 3 years, or significantly reduce the number of patients they see," Smith said. "The U. S. already is facing a widespread shortage of physicians. Should older, ‘workhorse' physicians choose to give up patient care, access to medical services will be further restricted."

66. Which is NOT true of physicians in the 50-to-65 age group in the U. S.?

A. They are mostly baby boomers.

B. They have nothing to complain about.

C. Many of them plan to gradually stop their practice.

D. They account for over one-third of all physicians in the country.

67. The survey was focused on         .

A. the living conditions of older physicians in the U. S.

B. the career plans of older physicians in the U. S.

C. the retirement plans of older physicians in the U. S.

D. the achievements of older physicians in the U.S.

68. Many older physicians in the U. S. view the work ethic of their younger

counterparts        .

A. with appreciation                  B. with disapproval

C. with jealous                   D. with indifference

69. In the eyes of many older physicians, medicine         .

A. comes first in their choice of a career for their children

B. remains their lifelong pursuit

C. is not as good a career as it used to be

D. is more demanding than it used to be

70. If many older physicians stop working in the coming years, Americans will have         .

A. even less access to medical services           B. even better patient care

C. a shortage of younger physicians                 D. more job opportunities

书面表达（满分25分）

近年来，在大学新生入学时，媒体对“父母护送子女上学”的现象作了一些报道，引发了许多讨论，赞同和不赞同的声音都有。假如某英语报记者对你进行采访，征求你对此现象的看法，请你根据下表提示，用英语写一篇短文，表达自己的观点，并说明理由。

注意：

  1．只能选择写一种观点，赞同或不赞同；除提示外还可适当增加你认为重要的理由；

    2．短文开头己分别给出，请把所选的开头句子抄写到答题卡上，然后接着写。开头句子不计入总词数；

    3．词数：120左右。

参考词汇：放心feel relieved；新生freshman

—How do you usually keep in touch with your friends, by email or letter？

    —            .

   A. None                                  B. Neither                 C. Any                                 D. Either

---- Why didn’t you pick up the MP4?

---- I ______ it, but I didn’t carry that much money.

A. could buy       B. should buy      C. must have bought  D. could have bought

—How much sugar did you put in my coffee? It tastes so bitterk#s^5*u．

—I am sorry to say that there’s ________left．I’ve forgotten to buy ______on my way home．

A．nothing；it                     B．something；anything

C．none；some                    D．no one；some

He was reading a novel ________ the story reminded him of ________ he had seen during the last war.

  A. when, what    B. that, what C. whose, that        D. while, which

I like this jacket better than that one, but it costs almost three times _______.

A. as much               B. as many               C. so much            D. so many

Ⅳ. Translation 16%

85.你方便下周就开始工作吗？(convenient)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

86.不管你遇到什么困难，千万不要叹气。(sigh)

________________________________________________________________________________________________

87.这个实验结果比我们原来想的要复杂得多。(prove)

________________________________________________________________________________________________

88.家长与孩子之间缺乏必要的交流已经成为一个社会问题。(Lack)

________________________________________________________________________________________________

89.只有那些认识到环境重要性的人才可能保护环境。(aware…likely)

________________________________________________________________________________________________

28. At a rough look, the area of the city is about ______ the old one.

A. three times the size as                                                        B. three times the size of             

C. three times that is                                                       D. three times what is

27．To tell you the truth，the accident and the damage______resulted in frightened me so much that I almost have given up driving ever since．

A．that    B．it    C．which    D．What